


Five Days in R&D

by Brumeier



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Kiss, First Meetings, M/M, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 16:12:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4841969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John is undercover in his father's company, checking out the R&D division to see how things are going. He discovers much more than he expected when he meets team leader Rodney McKay. But can there be anything between them once John's true identity is revealed?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Days in R&D

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darkmoore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkmoore/gifts).



“Patrick Sheppard is an imbecile.”

It was lucky for John that he was practiced in keeping a straight face, because otherwise he might have given himself away after just twenty minutes on the new job.

“Don’t mind McKay,” Laura Cadman said with a grin from across the conference/lunch table. “He hasn’t started on his second pot of coffee yet and he’s cranky.”

“I’m not cranky.” Dr. Rodney McKay, head of Sheppard International’s R&D lab, looked grumpier than that cat on the internet. “He asked, I answered. Unless I’m mistaken that’s how conversations work.”

Radek Zelenka, the Czech with the glasses and the pigeons on his screensaver, interjected before McKay could get another snarky word out. “Sheppard is not imbecile, just uninformed.”

“He’s plenty informed. I send weekly reports, he’s just too stupid to understand the data.” McKay drained the contents of his very large coffee mug. 

John chose not to take offense at that on his father’s behalf. Instead he made a mental note that the R&D department was feeling under-appreciated and possibly needed a liaison with upper management, someone who could translate their science jargon into layman’s terms. Patrick Sheppard was a cunning businessman, but he couldn’t be expected to be an expert in everything.

“Don’t listen to him, John,” Laura said. “You work down here long enough you’ll learn that McKay is all bark.”

“Did you just compare me to a dog?” McKay made shooing motions with his hands. “Meeting over. Everyone back to work. Chop, chop!”

There was some good-natured grumbling but the morning staff meeting broke up and everyone went to work. That told John that the staff respected McKay’s authority, and their banter showed that they liked him as well, despite his brusque attitude.

McKay wasn’t at all what John had expected. For one thing, he was fairly young, probably right around John’s own age. And he was good-looking: well built, if a little soft around the middle, with blue eyes and an intriguingly crooked mouth. A mouth that lacked any kind of filter.

“Are you all set?” McKay asked him.

“I’m cool.” They were starting John off slow, doing some data entry and double-checking equations and algorithms. It had been a long time since he’d gotten to indulge his love of numbers so he was actually looking forward to getting started.

“Terminal four,” McKay said, gesturing with a sweep of his arm. “If you don’t screw up, you can come back tomorrow.”

With that vote of confidence he disappeared through the door of his private office, and that was the last John saw of him for the remainder of his eight hour shift.

*o*o*o*

“You did an adequate job,” McKay told John the next morning. Clearly he wasn’t the kind of boss to dole out meaningless praise. Or any praise, for that matter. During the morning meeting he criticized everyone’s progress on their respective projects, adjusted timelines on the big white board to allow for ‘mediocre mental processes’ and had a shouting match with Radek.

In fact, the only appreciation McKay displayed at the morning meeting was for the chocolate glazed donuts that Laura brought in. John had been around a lot of people who enjoyed food, but none of them had made the pornographic sounds that came out of McKay’s mouth. It was disconcerting, and put the wrong kinds of images in John’s head. He was supposed to be gathering information this week, not getting turned on by the head of the department.

“Wow,” Laura said after the meeting, lingering at John’s workstation. “Adequate. I can’t remember the last time he gushed over one of us like that.”

“That’s gushing?” John asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re still here, aren’t you?” Laura gave him a finger wave and left for her own workstation. 

John put in a full day’s work, taking note as he did so of the dynamics within the R&D department. There were several labs attached to the main hub, which is where John’s terminal was located. Each lab had a different focus – robotics, aeronautics, acoustics, and micro-processing. McKay had a lab all his own, and no-one went anywhere near it. As far as John could tell, beyond the morning meeting McKay didn’t talk to anyone directly. He assumed any necessary communication was happening electronically.

Dr. Zelenka was far more approachable than McKay, and so John noticed that he got all the face time with the staff. He was more tolerant, and less likely to reduce someone to tears, but even Radek could get short with people when he felt they were taking their work in the wrong direction, or weren’t asking the right questions. There was very little room for error, which was probably why R&D was so damn profitable.

Lunch was a group thing, though McKay didn’t join them. Radek made sure everyone ate together – project leaders and their staff – instead of at their desks, and John wondered who had initiated that rule. The discussion rotated through work topics, personal topics and which upcoming Marvel movie people were most looking forward to. It reminded John a little of mealtimes when he was still in the Air Force, the easy camaraderie of people who worked closely together.

There were regular breaks as well, and when John asked Laura about the frequency of them she told him it was to combat the stress of their work.

“We have a lot of expectations piled on us, some of it our own doing. It can be easy to burn out, especially if you’re stuck.” Laura contemplated the offerings in the vending machine and finally chose a Snickers bar. “It’s good to step away, take a breath. I think that’s why we have so little turn-around here.”

John knew his father probably wouldn’t agree with that particular business model. Patrick Sheppard was always pushing for more from his employees, and upper management staff could very easily be expected to put in twelve to fourteen hour days. As it was, McKay was always the last one in the labs at the end of the day, and John had no idea how much longer he stayed after he’d sent everyone else home.

*o*o*o*

On the third day John brought maple bacon muffins from the bakery near his apartment. There was no sense trying to ply McKay with coffee: R&D had a high end machine that did regular coffee as well as cappuccino and espresso, and he was pretty sure McKay kept it stocked with his own personal stash of expensive, imported beans. The fact that he shared it with his staff said a lot about the man behind the bluster.

“No-one likes a kiss ass,” McKay told John when he set the box on the table.

“Just trying to make friends,” John replied cheerily.

He’d been waiting for the porn noises, and wasn’t disappointed. McKay’s eyes just about rolled up in his head when he took his first bite of the still-warm muffin. The man could make a fortune doing voice-overs for hentai films.

“Peterson, you need to stop your simulations and go through your code. The new guy found some mistakes. I sent you an email first thing this morning.” McKay finished off his cupcake and licked his fingers. “He’s been here two days and he’s already smarter than you. Pick up the pace.”

Andy Peterson shot John a dirty look, to which he responded with a shrug. It wasn’t like he was trying to take anyone’s job. John had been sent to evaluate the department, undercover of course, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do the job to the best of his ability while he was there. Contrary to what was likely in his military jacket, John took his work very seriously.

“Cadman. You’re up.”

John only partially paid attention as Laura brought everyone up to speed on her progress. She was working on an electronic hub that operated with voice commands to control things around the house – phones, lights, heat, and anything electronic or that worked off a wifi connection could be programmed into it. It was pretty cool, and could make any house into a Smart House if used properly. There were a lot of advantages, particularly for the disabled and the elderly, but she was still working out some bugs with the compatibility software.

What John really wanted to know was what McKay was working on. What was he doing in his private lab all day? John had tried accessing McKay’s files, but the levels of encryption were way beyond his ability to decode. He’d asked around the office, discreetly of course, but if anyone else knew what he was doing they were being close-mouthed about it.

When the meeting broke up John trailed McKay back to his office, though he was unable to get through the door; the other man blocked it fairly efficiently with his broad shoulders. John had a lot of thoughts about those shoulders.

“Was there something you needed?”

“No. Just wondered what you’re working on back there in the fortress of solitude.”

McKay snorted. “Superman. I wish I could say I was surprised. Everyone knows Batman is far superior to the so-called man of steel. He uses his brains instead of just his brawn. His genius is his super power. You know –”

“Right,” John interrupted. “So what’re you working on in the batcave?”

“Your clearance level isn’t high enough. Get back to work.” With that, the office door was slammed in John’s face.

“Ooh, burn!” Laura called from across the room. John flipped her off.

He went back to his workstation and dropped down in the chair. He didn’t know why it was suddenly so important to get a look at McKay’s inner sanctum; surely it wouldn’t have any effect on his report of the department. He didn’t want to admit that it was the man himself that was drawing John’s curiosity.

“You should come out with us tonight,” Laura said. She leaned against his desk, arms crossed. “Get to know the gang outside of the labs.”

“Where you going?” That would determine his answer. He couldn’t very well go someplace where he was known as John Sheppard instead of John Miles. 

“Chester’s. It’s Wednesday Wing Night, we always go out for that.”

John nodded. He’d never been there. “Sounds like fun. Does the big boss go?”

Laura laughed. “McKay? Never. Why? Is that a deal breaker?” She gave him an assessing look. “We can dish about him if you want. Girl to girl.”

He threw a paper clip at her. “Go away. I have work to do.”

“We go right after work!” Laura called over her shoulder as she disappeared back into her lab.

John was looking forward to it.

*o*o*o*

Chester’s was packed but the R&D team had a reserved table in the back, a perk of being regulars and big tippers. They didn’t even need to order; ten minutes after they sat down three huge platters of wings were set on the table, with draft beers all around.

“It’s good, right?” Laura asked. She already had grease running down her arm.

John just nodded since his mouth was full. He thought it was interesting that the project leaders hung out after work, after spending all day in the labs together. Aside from McKay and Peterson, everyone else had come.

“How are you enjoying the work?” Miko asked. John wasn’t sure he’d ever heard her talk before today. Normally she hid behind oversized glasses and her tablet. McKay never asked her any questions at the morning meetings, John realized, and wondered why. She was the only one that never had to present her progress, and he wasn’t even sure what it was she was working on.

“I wouldn’t mind something more challenging,” he admitted. Checking other people’s work was fine, and he could do it well, but there were much cooler projects happening in R&D that he wouldn’t mind getting involved with. He kept having to remind himself that Friday was his last day.

“It won’t be long,” Laura promised. “With all the praise McKay’s been heaping on you I’m sure you’ll get your pick of projects to assist on.”

“He likes you,” Radek said with a nod. “Is unusual.”

John went to rub the back of his neck, uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going, but remembered at the last minute that he had wing sauce all over his hands. He wiped them on a napkin and shrugged noncommittally instead.

“You’re embarrassing him.” Roger Wilson, the head of the robotics lab, took a deep swallow of beer and then signaled the waitress for another round. “Give the kid a break.”

“Kid?” John asked, amused. “I’m thirty-two.”

“You’re all kids to me,” Roger said with a wave of his hand. Of the group he was the oldest, well into his fifties at least.

“Does it bother you? Working for such a younger man?”

Roger huffed out a laugh. “Are you kidding me? McKay acts like a curmudgeon. He makes me feel young.”

John was a little surprised that everyone seemed to like McKay so much. Yes, they razzed him and poked a little fun, but it felt affectionate. Like he was their obnoxious older brother or something. It wasn’t the work environment he was used to.

“He seems pretty arrogant,” John said, playing devil’s advocate. “Like he could be a real jerk.”

“Oh, absolutely.” Laura pushed a strand of hair out of her face with the heel of her hand. “He has a monster ego and almost no social skills.”

“He has no patience,” Radek added. 

“He doesn’t tolerate sloppy work.” Roger reached for more bleu cheese dressing. “And he never takes sick days, so he doesn’t understand why anyone else would need to.”

“He makes the interns cry,” Miko said solemnly.

John hadn’t been expecting that level of candor. “But you all seem to like him anyway.”

“McKay is a genius,” Radek said. 

“And he’ll be the first one to tell you so.” Laura leaned closer to John, elbow on the table. “He’s scary brilliant, John. But he’s been treated pretty shitty for most of his life, which is why his people skills suck. He doesn’t look after himself, so we do it for him. You’re either on board with that, or you need to request a transfer.”

John could feel the weight of four sets of eyes on him, waiting to see which way he’d go. The fact that these people were so protective of McKay spoke volumes, and just made John want to get to know the man better. He wished he had more time.

“I’m on board.”

“Good.” Laura clinked John’s beer glass with her own and downed it in one go.

*o*o*o*

“No muffins?” McKay looked disappointed, and John felt bad for not picking some up. He’d had the thought, but didn’t want to be too obvious or come across as a sycophant.

“You can’t eat that crap every day, boss.” Laura slid a container of oatmeal across the table and followed it up with a plastic spoon. “This is better for your cholesterol.”

“Stop hacking my medical files,” McKay grumbled even as he started shoveling oatmeal into his mouth.

John noticed a lot of that sort of thing throughout the day, now that he was looking for it. McKay didn’t join them for lunch, but a food delivery was made to his office. Miko made sure there was always a fresh pot of coffee, and once John caught her filling McKay’s mug even though she took it into her lab instead of his office; something was up there.

“What’s Miko working on?” John asked Laura during the afternoon break. He leaned against the vending machine while she contemplated the contents and shook the coins in her hand. He wondered how much of her weekly salary she fed back into that thing.

“It’s confidential.”

“Everything here is confidential.”

Laura gave him a piercing look. “Double secret confidential.”

John rolled his eyes. “Fine, don’t tell me. Keep your little secrets.”

He went back to his workstation and left Laura to her very important decision making. No-one was going to tell him what Miko was working on, but he wasn’t stupid. He could formulate a hypothesis just as well as anyone else in the department. Fact: Miko’s project was confidential even from her colleagues. Fact: McKay never spoke of his project either. Fact: Miko filled McKay’s coffee mug.

The simplest conclusion was that Miko and McKay were working on the _same_ project. And John burned to know what it was, probably only because it _was_ a secret. Was it a death ray? A transporter? A time machine? He needed to know.

John stayed late, working away on Peterson’s algorithms. He ignored Laura’s narrow-eyed looks and Radek’s barely-hidden amusement, keeping his eyes on the monitor. He waited until everyone else had gone home, and then he waited some more, until McKay emerged from his office stifling a yawn and holding his empty mug in his hand.

“Why the hell are you still here? Go home.”

“Just finishing up,” John replied. He tracked McKay to the fancy coffee maker, and intercepted him on the way back to his office. “Hey, listen. Uh…you want to get something to eat?”

“I have Power Bars in my office. Which I’d like to get back to, if you don’t mind.” McKay tried to dodge around him but John blocked him again.

“That’s not dinner. Come on, my treat.” In his head John could hear the clock counting down. One more day and then he’d be gone, and he wanted a chance to get to know McKay a little better before that happened.

“I don’t mingle with my subordinates. Go away.”

They did the dodge-and-block again, which had McKay scowling. John upped the wattage on his smirk.

“Come on, McKay. One meal. I promise I’ll still respect you in the morning.”

“Ha, ha. Very funny. You won’t leave me alone until I say yes, will you?” McKay sighed dramatically. “Fine. One dinner, and then you turn that oozy charm in another direction.”

“Oozy?”

“Five minutes.” McKay went back in his office and slammed his door shut.

“I’m not oozy!” John called after him.

*o*o*o*

Knowing what he did about McKay’s eating habits, John expected him to pick a greasy spoon diner. Instead they ended up with terrace seating at an exclusive French restaurant that was normally booked up weeks in advance. The maître d' greeted McKay by name, in French, and McKay replied in kind.

John might’ve been a little impressed. And possibly slightly turned on hearing McKay speak French.

 

“Come here often?” John asked after they’d been seated. He felt unaccountably nervous, like his friendly dinner with a co-worker had somehow turned into a date.

“If that’s the entirety of your pick-up line repertoire it’s no surprise you’re single.” McKay didn’t even bother opening the menu; clearly he already knew what he wanted.

“Who said I was single?”

“You’re here with your boss instead of home with your significant other.”

“Maybe he wants me to make new friends,” John countered.

“Maybe he’s non-existent.” Whatever else McKay might’ve had to say on the subject of John’s hypothetical love-life was interrupted by the arrival of the sommelier and the waiter. “Are you a savage, or will you drink wine?”

John leaned back in his chair and exaggerated his normal drawl. “Well, I do like a nice frosty beer while I watch NASCAR, but I’ll drink your fancy grape juice.”

“A comedian. Wonderful.” Despite the dry tone, the corner of McKay’s mouth twitched like he wanted to smile. He ordered something pricey, and then had a rapid-fire exchange in French with the waiter. 

John knew a little French himself – a side-effect of growing up with the country club set – so he was able to follow along with most of the specials the waiter listed. It was amusing to see the surprise on McKay’s face when John placed his order in French, stumbling just a little over the words.

“That was unexpected.”

“I’m a complex guy,” John replied with a self-satisfied grin. 

“So it would seem. Your accent is atrocious.” 

“Thanks so much for noticing.”

McKay fussed with his silverware, moving it around and then moving it back, studying the fork for non-existent spots. “So why are we here?”

“You picked it,” John pointed out.

"You know what I mean. Did you take your last boss out to dinner?”

John imagined having a candle-lit dinner with Colonel Callen and barely suppressed a shudder. “No, I didn’t.”

McKay abandoned the silverware and leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Look, if this is some way of ingratiating yourself to get a better assignment, then you should know it won’t work. I don’t play favorites. You’re either smart enough or you’re not, and I still haven’t decided about you.”

John held up his hands in surrender. “I just want to get to know you better, that’s all. You spend all day locked up in your office, working on secret projects. I’m just curious.”

“Just as long as we’re clear.”

“Crystal.”

Once McKay seemed convinced that John wasn’t trying to schmooze his way up the corporate ladder, the rest of the dinner went surprisingly well. McKay was well versed on topics as diverse as wormholes and superhero backstories. Any time the topic of conversation veered towards work he deflected it to something else until John got the picture and gave up finding out what the big secret project was.

He learned that McKay was deathly allergic to citrus, which explained the vehement NO ORANGE JUICE signs at work. He learned the McKay had a genius sister who was wasting her life as a housewife, and that he had a blind cat named Geordi that barely tolerated him. Most importantly, John learned that under all the arrogance and bluster was a brilliant man with a snarky sense of humor and a big heart that he tried too hard to hide.

By the time the dessert cart rolled up John was full and pleasantly buzzed on the wine McKay had chosen. If it had been a date, he’d have ranked it in the top three. He was certainly in no hurry to leave, especially knowing that tomorrow would be his last day.

"Are you close with your family?” McKay asked. He’d already made a thorough study of the desserts and chosen something monstrous made of chocolate.

John shrugged. It wasn’t the first time the conversation had veered that way, but he’d managed to avoid most of the personal questions. Now, though, he was feeling loose from the wine and the good company. “Not really. I haven’t seen my brother in years, and my dad…well. It’s complicated.”

“Family shit is always complicated,” McKay said. He jabbed his chocolate-coated fork in John’s direction for emphasis. “My parents were assholes. Seriously, it’s a wonder I turned out so normal.”

“You call that normal?”

“Ha. Very funny. So what’s the complication?”

“It’s really not that interesting.”

“My dad once burned everything I owned in a big bonfire in our backyard, when he was drunk off his ass. The fire department had to come.” McKay scraped the last of the chocolate off his plate with his fork. 

“Jesus!” Laura hadn’t been kidding when she said McKay hadn’t been well treated. “My dad wasn’t…he just worked all the time. Especially after my mom died. And he didn’t like most of my…let’s say, life choices.”

“Such as your non-existent significant other?” McKay smirked. “I’m familiar with that phenomenon myself.”

“Yeah, well, with the hours you keep it’s no wonder you’re single.” John poked half-heartedly at his own dessert, something flaky and fruit-filled. He didn’t particularly like talking about himself, or his family dynamics. Patrick Sheppard had taken umbrage at John’s sexuality, his choice of colleges, his decision to join the Air Force. All they’d ever done was butt heads, which made the job offer so unexpected. He hated himself a little for taking it.

“That’s the burden of leadership,” McKay said. There was something underlying his flippant remark, something that sounded to John like loneliness. And yeah, he could relate.

“Feel free to unburden yourself and tell me about your project.” John grinned at the scowl that immediately twisted McKay’s mouth down on one side. He was so damned good-looking, he made John want things he wasn’t sure he could have, circumstances being what they were.

“I don’t put out on the first date, John. That goes for sex _and_ company secrets.”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“Are you done mangling that pastry? It’s getting late.”

All of a sudden McKay seemed in a rush to go. He signaled the waiter, who brought John the ridiculously large bill. He had to make sure he’d taken enough cash out to cover it, since he didn’t want to slip up now and have McKay see the name on his corporate credit card. Or the fact that he even had a corporate credit card.

McKay didn’t make a token offer to pay his half.

“Will you be at work tomorrow?” he asked while John left the tip.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s not outside the realm of possibility that you’d be sulking.”

Now it was John’s turn to scowl. “I don’t sulk.”

“You’re doing it right now.”

“I am not!”

“Do you need a ride home?” McKay asked, abruptly changing topic. “You had a lot of wine.”

“I can manage.”

“Bring some of those muffins tomorrow. Maybe I’ll find you worthy of new duties, unless you’re still enjoying fixing Peterson's math.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

And just like that dinner was over. McKay swept out of the restaurant with a few parting words for the maître d', leaving John with his wallet in his hand and the sinking feeling that one week with McKay wasn’t going to be enough.

*o*o*o*

“John, I’d like to see you in my office.”

McKay’s pronouncement at the end of the morning meeting had everyone staring at John in surprise. He was surprised himself, and had a moment of panic that maybe he was being let go, which was ridiculous since it was his last day anyway.

“Tell me everything,” Laura murmured in his ear as she headed for her lab.

“Good luck to you,” Radek said, sympathy written all over his face.

John followed McKay, who’d scooped up the box with the remaining muffins, back to his inner sanctum. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting. An office like his father’s maybe, with dark paneling and expensive furniture. Instead, McKay’s space was completely utilitarian. Metal shelves held a variety of textbooks, professional journals, and reams of paper held together with binder clips. There were three white boards, four laptops on the desk, and a cot in the corner which spoke of late nights spent in the office.

There were no personal touches at all, save the prominently displayed degrees hanging on the otherwise bare walls. No plants, no photographs, no action figures.

“I want to show you what I’m working on,” McKay said without any preamble. He tossed the box of muffins on the nearest flat surface and moved to the rear of the room, which was marked by a large door and a fancy security keypad.

“I thought I didn’t have the right clearance.” John couldn’t figure out why, after all the dancing around the subject they’d done at dinner, that McKay was suddenly reversing his own decision.

“If you’d rather not…” McKay said, eyebrows raised.

“No! No, I really want to see what you’re doing.”

McKay blocked the keypad with his body while he entered his code, which sounded incredibly long. John half expected there to be a retinal scan or something, but it was just a numbered lock.

The lab on the other side of the door was good sized but not the biggest in the department. Three long work surfaces were covered with electronic components, tools, and still more laptops. There was a desktop workstation in one corner, and the room was lined with shelves holding bins of wires, electrodes, microchips, and a lot of other bits and pieces that John couldn’t identify. There was a large rolling whiteboard covered in schematics, a huge flat screen monitor angled down from the juncture of wall and ceiling, and a large poster showing various types of fighter jets.

And Miko, who was standing off to the side looking nervous behind her big glasses.

“Give us a few minutes,” McKay told her and she scurried off through a different door. They obviously shared the lab, just as John had thought. “This won’t take long.”

He went to one of the laptops and started to type, his fingers flying over the keyboard faster than anyone John had ever seen. The big monitor flashed to life, bringing up specs to some sort of device that John couldn’t begin to identify. He figured it had something to do with planes, though, because he couldn’t see Rodney just randomly having that poster on display unless it was somehow connected to his work.  
“Looks great,” John said. “What is it?”

“Once I get it to work, it’ll be a cloaking device.”

John turned wide eyes on McKay, who was standing smugly by the laptop with his arms crossed. “Cloaking? Like on _Star Trek_?”

“How did I know you’d be a trekkie? Yes, just like that. It’s all very complicated, so I won’t bore you with an explanation of metamaterials, nanotechnology or refraction, but I can tell you we’re close. Your father will have defense contracts coming out of his ass once we get it finished.”

John froze in place. _Your father_. He replayed McKay’s words, tried to remember if there was some sort of unspoken accusation in there, but he couldn’t tell. “You know?” he asked instead, prepared to go on the defensive.

McKay snorted. “Of course I know. No-one works in my department without being fully vetted by me, and Corporate has never made any staffing recommendations in the time I’ve worked here. I knew who you were your first day. Your use of a different last name wasn’t exactly CIA-level stealth, John.”

No. He didn’t sound angry. He was more…amused?

“Look,” John said. “My dad just sent me here to see how the department was doing without everyone trying to suck up to me. R&D is one of his most profitable divisions, but he doesn’t understand a lot of what comes out of it.”

“That much is painfully obvious. It’s your last day, right?” McKay waited for John’s nod of agreement before he pointed at the big monitor. “Your father asked for this personally, shortly after your plane was shot down in Afghanistan. I just thought you should know that he cares about what happens to you.”

John turned to look at the specs again, more to hide whatever expression might be on his face than anything else. His father had asked for it? That was…unexpected. John had come out of the desert with a broken leg thanks to a rough ejection and shitty landing. Holland hadn’t come out at all, and his CO’s refusal to even go back for his body – to give his fucking family closure – had heavily influenced John’s decision to accept the discharge the higher-ups had insisted upon.

He’d never talked to his father about any of that. Or anyone else.

McKay’s hand squeezing John’s shoulder startled him out of his thoughts. “You’re a smart guy, despite outward appearances. If you’re going to work for your father, at least have him give you something substantial to do. Don’t waste your intelligence being a corporate spy.”

“You know, you have a real way with the backhanded compliment.” John pulled himself together and turned a smirk on McKay. “It’s an interesting management style.”

McKay shrugged, and removed his hand. “It works for me. Now get out of here. I have work to do, and so do you. I still own you till the end of your shift, and I expect to get the most out of you I can until then.”

“Yes, boss,” John replied cheekily. He had to wait for the door to be unlocked again before he could get back into McKay’s office, and from there to his own workstation.

“Miko!” McKay bellowed, sealing himself off behind his office door once more.

John sat at his desk, just staring at the monitor for a long moment. McKay had given him a lot to think about. He had to make his presentation to his father on Monday morning, which only gave him the weekend to figure out what he wanted to do for Sheppard International.

A rubber band thunked against his shoulder, and John looked over his monitor to where Laura was sitting.

“What’s going on?” she stage whispered.

“Later,” he replied.

That was going to be the more pressing issue, he knew. How to admit who he was and say goodbye to the people he’d been working with all week. He was surprised at how much he was going to miss them.

This undercover stuff sucked.

*o*o*o*

**Two Weeks Later**

John took a deep breath and walked into R&D just in time for the morning staff meeting. He wasn’t sure what his reception would be, but the cool indifference aimed his way wasn’t a surprise. Even McKay, who’d been hip to his deception from the start, barely gave him a glance before continuing to quiz Laura about her project. John took the empty seat and waited patiently, ignoring the anxiety swirling in his gut. 

“John. Was there something you needed?” McKay finally asked.

“I just wanted to introduce myself,” John replied. He stood up and smoothed down his suit coat. He wasn’t big on the formal wear, but for the first day it seemed appropriate. “My name is John Sheppard, and I’m your new Corporate Liaison.”

“Corporate what now?” Laura asked.

“I’ll be working directly with R&D,” he explained. “It’ll be my job to turn your reports into something that the board of directors will understand. I’ll also be helping the R&D division procure funding, and working on PR.”

“Those sound like good things,” Roger said. “Where will your office be?”

“I’m just down the hall, in room 22.” It wasn’t ideal. A location right in R&D would have been John’s first choice but there wasn’t space available. “But I’d like to spend as much time in here as possible. It’ll help give me a feel for what you guys are working on.”

The others were becoming more receptive to the idea, but Laura just narrowed her eyes. “This just sounds like a fancy way of continuing to spy on us.”

“I’m not spying!”

“He’ll be doing a job, just like the rest of you,” McKay interjected. “You’ll work with him, or you won’t work at all. End of story.”

“Yessir, bossman!” Laura saluted McKay and turned a wide grin on John. “I was just yanking your chain. It’s nice to have you back, John.”

The others echoed her sentiment, even Peterson, and the knot that had been growing in John’s stomach loosened up. This might just be okay after all.

“Everyone back to work. John, can I have a moment?”

“Sure.” John suspected that McKay would want to go over his specific duties and firm up just what it was he planned to do for R&D. He didn’t expect McKay to push him up against the wall in his office and kiss him breathless.

“What about fraternization?” John asked dazedly when McKay finally released his mouth. They were still standing incredibly close together, McKay’s hands on John’s hips and John’s hands splayed back against the wall.

“You don’t work for me,” McKay said with a wicked grin.

“Oh.” John lunged back in, lips on McKay’s. He wrapped his arms around the man, pulling him even closer.

This time when they pulled back McKay was panting and looking a bit dazed himself. 

“You know, McKay –”

“Don’t say it!” 

“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

McKay rolled his eyes and John laughed. Yeah, this was going to work out just fine.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** Darkmoore has been asking for an Undercover Boss fic. I got inspired, so I wrote her this. I hope you like it, sweetie! ::grins::


End file.
